The Marmaricus waterfall

From the Serre to the Ionian Sea, the wonders of the Stilaro River.

The Stilaro is a watercourse with a dual nature. High up in the heart of the Serre Mountains, it has a torrential nature. White waters, which tumultuously descend bouncing among the granite boulders that clutter the valleys of its tributaries and also the main riverbed, dotted with crystalline pools of water. And an arboreal vegetation of beech, oak and chestnut trees that is a worthy backdrop. In the lower stretch, however, downstream from Stilo, the ancient city that gives it its name, the stream, which has become a river, changes physiognomy and widens into the stony riverbed typical of the southern fiumare, accompanied all the way to the sea by Mediterranean scrub and oleander blooms.

Marmarico, the most spectacular waterfall of the Serre Calabresi

In the highest part of the basin there are two branches that open their way through the forests of the ridge converging in the Stilaro valley: from the east, the Ruggiero gorge, the most impervious and full of waterfalls, some of which exceed thirty meters in height; from the west, the Folea gorge, which laps the old Ferdinandea steel complex and then forms the spectacular Marmarico waterfall; uncertain etymology, perhaps from the Latin marmoreus, meaning shining like marble; 140 meters in height difference, channeled through the rocks to the natural pool that collects its waters. It is the highest waterfall not only in the Serre but also in the entire southern Apennines, a destination for hikers who willingly face a long climb in the prospect of a bath at 600 meters above sea level.

A giant fern emerging from the Cenozoic.

The flora of the Calabrian Serre boasts several specificities, including a rare species of fern that in their cool valleys has survived climatic changes over the turn of the ages. It is Woodwardia radicans, which besides boasting 65 million years behind it, has the spectacular characteristic of developing leaves up to three meters long. It requires high humidity, low direct light and temperatures between 10 and 25 °C to thrive. Conditions, which occur precisely in the evergreen holm oak and laurel forests of the Stilaro Valley.